Relinquish

Chapter One: Birthday Dash

It was a beautifully sunny day . . .July 12th to be exact; my 19th birthday! It was just another normal day. There I was, splayed out across my worn out green sofa which was pressed to one wall of my stuffy apartment. I was wearing my comfy track pants, and my white tank top with a yellow stain on the chest; my shoes were thrown to the other side of the room and a bottle of 7-up was in my hand while I watched my reruns of shows on TV. Suddenly, I heard creaks from the hallway outside and my eyes instantly shot to my door. Then I started to hear the whispers.

"She hasn't paid rent for three weeks!" I strained to hear. The voice seemed to get closer as each second passed and I tensed.

It had to be the landlord, but I didn't wait to find out because I was already off the sofa, packing as many necessities as possible, stuffing my feet into my shoes and climbing out of my second story window in less than a minute. I never used to freak out as extremely as I did, but that was before I realized the landlord and I had different motto's. Mine being; don't ask, don't tell . . . and his; if you mess up again, I'm getting the police involved. HA! Like I was going to let that happen! I've been messed up with the cops way to much lately.

After climbing down the fire escape . . . I now had to find a new safe house, and that is a lot easier said than done . . . especially when you have no food or money. I spotted a black pleather wallet while roaming an alley for a place to set up for the night. Making sure no one was around; I snatched it and walked for 30 more minutes before I settled down near a large green dumpster. There was a total of $45 and a handful of spare change, but what caught my attention was the picture in it. There was a young man who had short blond hair, a red and black plaid shirt and was gazing love-struck at this gorgeous woman, who I assumed to be his wife. She had long, bright red hair in ringlets. She wore a sleeveless top, and large silver-hooped earrings. Standing in front of them was a 6 year old boy or so. He had a baseball cap on, which was too big for his head, bright blue eyes and an adorable goofy smile plastered on his young face. Happy families always made me frustrated; they work out for everyone, but me. I stared at this picture for what felt like hours before I heard a hoarse voice, breaking me out of my silence.

"You found my wallet!" he yelled as he slowly approached me.

I jumped; now realizing that I wasn't alone and it was now night. I could barely see his features. He was about my height, slim, 40 some years and had a partly grey beard with dark brown patches in it. He was wearing dark clothes, but other than that I couldn't pick out his details.

"This wallet is mine old man!" I yelled courageously back at him.

"OH! But I think that it's mine indeed!" He stated with a raspy laugh.

Then I saw the glint of metal he was sliding out of his pocket. It was a knife . . .He had a knife! I dropped the wallet and desperately turned to run as fast as I could to get out of the alley, but he grabbed my wrist and yanked me closer to his body before I even had the chance. His features were suddenly clear to me . . . he had a greasy broad nose, brown droopy eyes, and yellow crooked teeth under his creepy smile; then there was his disgusting breath against my face. I attempted to pull free, but his grip was too tight. Then, I felt the metal being pressed to my neck. Holding back a scream, I kicked him as hard as I could in the knee. He loosened his grip just enough for me to escape his grasp. I sprinted toward the exit, not stopping until I was running for a good forty-five minutes. Stopping for a brief second, I leaned up against a brick wall, feeling dizzy while trying to catch my breath. That's when I noticed the crumpled picture of that happy family, in my now nervously shaking hand. I stuffed the picture in my pocket aggressively; made sure my backpack was still sturdy, took a shaky breath and started on my way. I was turning the corner when my eye caught my own reflection on the local café's window. The last I could see before losing my balance was the gash on the side of my neck and my--what used to be--white tank top, stained bright red. Then everything went black.

I'm not the fainting type of girl, so when I woke up on a strangers couch, I let out the loudest, most obnoxious scream I've ever heard; simultaneously I felt the agonizing pain on my throat and let out a quick gasp.Heavy footsteps came thundering down the staircase directly in front of where I was sitting. Many thoughts were racing through my head. The man in the alley captured me. How did he find me? I was positive I lost him after the first 15 minutes. Maybe I was wrong, and I let my guard down! All I could do was brace myself to get away. Only then did I realize it was a lady. Not the man after all. When I focused harder to clear my vision . . .it wasn't just anyone . . . it was the red headed woman in the picture I found! I was so surprised to see her that I didn't even realize she started talking until she was already half way through her sentence.

"- rd you scream. Are you alright? I found you by 'Big Bean' café lying on the ground, soaking in your own blood!" she rambled on. "My husband and I brought you back here and patched you up. You must have been terrified to wake up in a random place! OH! I should probably introduce myself, silly me. I'm Clarisse." She stuck her hand out for me to shake.

I looked at her hand, then her face and back again . . .after a few moments she placed it by her side awkwardly and started to blush. This is the most someone's talked to me in years; even when my brother was around, we tried to stay out of each other's way, unless I got too out of hand. When I didn't respond, she told me she would get me something to eat, and her husband would be home from work very soon.

When she left, I looked around for my backpack and spotted it near the frame of a closed door. I got up, nearly falling over from dizziness, and slowly made my way over to it when suddenly; the door swung open and barrelling out, came a boy that seemed about eleven. He ran right into me, knocking both of us over. I landed hard on my back, leaving me breathless for a few moments. Finally, I got up slowly, brushing myself off.

"Your hair is so long!" Was the first thing he blurted out.

I couldn't help myself but laugh. It wasn't all that funny, but he finds a stranger in his house, and that's the first thing he says! I think I like this kid already. He beams, and then sticks out his small, delicate hand.

"Hi, I'm Eddie!" he exclaims.

I watch him cautiously, not sure if I should let someone in again, but I take the risk anyways. I take his hand in mine and shake it.

"Dawn. My name is Dawn," I said as I smiled wryly down at the boy.

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